SAYONARA 2015

I am rather behind on our blog posts as its already January 6th and I've not even updated you on things we did over Christmas, or said goodbye to 2015. I apologise. For a start we took a trip over New Year which put us all out of sync but then we launched back into the regular rhythms of life and haven't had a chance to catch our breath. But I'm on it, I promise!

Starting with our round up post from 2015. It certainly was a busy year. I feel like we visited a lot of places, had some visitors and generally achieved a lot. It was also a pretty big year for a certain husband of mine too. 

So here's our top ten events of 2015:

1. Having Andrew's family come over to visit us. 
2. Travelling up to Seattle by train and seeing the beauty of the West coast.
3. Watching a couple of American Football games, particularly the Seattle Seahawks. 
4. Our friend Tim's visit and seeing Yosemite and other great places with him. 
5. A certain someone turning 30!
6. The amazing Alaskan cruise. 
7. Meeting Mr James Corden himself. 
8. Going home to see all the family, especially Mr Elisha after turning 1!
9. Seeing the band Muse perform, and watching Andrew's face as the drones flew round. 
10. The stay at the beautiful cabin in Lake Tahoe (more to come on that later). 


As you can see its been a pretty busy 2015 and unsurprisingly 2016 is shaping up to be just as crazy. We have a visit or two lined up with family members and then in the middle of the year we are going to be celebrating my brother getting married which means a trip back to England! Yay! There's also the scary event of me turning 30, but we won't mention that again. Ever. 

We are so grateful to God for all the things that happened in 2015, even some of the tougher things which have allowed us to grow, especially as a couple. We look forward to facing 2016. As ever, updates will be on the blog so you can feel somewhat involved. 

Happy new year everyone!
A&H xx

ONE YEAR "IN THE USA" ANNIVERSARY

As of today we have been living in the USA for a whole year! We can't believe how fast the time has gone. Here is a quick run down of our past year, complete with twelve pictures....

MAY

 First time to San Francisco: Got our house and cars: Tour of California: Macintosh arrived!

JUNE

 Andrew's birthday: Our stuff arrived from England: First baseball match: Saw Fyfe Dangerfield: Went to Hollywood: Took Macintosh to his first dog beach 

JULY

Andrew went to Florida (again): Celebrated our first 4th July: Enjoyed the heat!

AUGUST

Keble's visit: San Francisco again: Lots of touristy things: Andrew came home from Florida

SEPTEMBER

Elisha was born: Saw AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars and Linking Park: Went to Sacramento 

OCTOBER

Went home to surprise family: Hannah's birthday: Said goodbye to our neighbour: Did some local exploring 

NOVEMBER 

Went to San Diego: Saw Switchfoot: Our friends got a beagle: Stayed at Big Bear Lake: Andrew grew a moustache: Celebrated our first Thanksgiving 

DECEMBER 

Got our first American Christmas tree: Watched Christmas parades: Saw Handel's Messiah in LA: Visited Santa Barbara: Celebrated our first American Christmas: Visited the Getty Centre

JANUARY 

Rang in 2015: Went snow tubing: Explored the Pacific Crest Trail

FEBRUARY

Watched our first Super Bowl: Saw Ben Howard: Explored more of the PCT

MARCH 

Woodruff visit: Did some touristy things: Travelled the entire West Coast by train: Saw Seattle: Watched the LA air show: 

APRIL

Visited Filmore: Dog sat a few times: Celebrated our first American Easter: Hiked to the Devil's Chair: Made it to a whole year in the US of A!

We genuinely can't believe how insane this past year has been. Writing this post and looking back at all the photos showed us just how much of this amazing country we have seen, whilst Andrew has been working full time too. We have many exciting things planned for the next three months so we know year two will be just as exciting. 

I think though we are just amazed at how God has blessed us in sending us over here for this period of our lives, providing us with such brilliant friends (both American and British) and sustaining us when we are homesick or just feel like we are missing out on life in the UK. We are excited to see what He has in store for us in the next year, so bring it on!

A&H 

SPRING DECOR

In order to spruce up our decor for spring time I decided to add little pops of colour. I didn't want to overdo it or drastically change the whole look of the lounge area but I did want it to look a bit fresher. 

A twig wreath with coral flowers greets you as you come in the door. I really love the coral colour, although it looks a little more peach in this photo. It's rather hard to photograph because its in a very small dark porch like spot. But hey, you get the idea.

This area didn't get too much of a spring touch. I attempted to write a Bible verse on our chalkboard in different fonts. Its not the best and I need some serious practise but I was copying from Pinterest. Its not the worst and it'll do for now, until I have time to get my perfectionist hands working on it again!

The best bit about the bookcase area is our new antique find. I love our new airmail scales. They were tucked away in the antique shop and I fell in love with them at once. I convinced Andrew to get them pretty quickly which is good because there was an older couple eyeing them up too and I didn't want to end up losing them. Snap decision and we owned them! 

This is the main lounge area and here is where the colour pops happen. I made the pinwheels from some amazing patterned card I found on sale in a craft store over here. They were pretty easy once you got the hang of it. I could have made quite a few but then I would have struggled to find homes for them and as Andrew pointed out when he came home, maybe less is more! (I probably would have had them on every available surface!)

Those close up shots show our two favourite parts of the decor (other than the amazing scales). Andrew loves the mustard and greeny coloured pinwheels and I love the spring print. It was yet another Pinterest find that I just printed out. But I love how when its sat next to the whale bookends the grin from Mr Moby makes it look like he's happy its spring. I'm happy its spring too. Its not been a particularly cold winter in California but I am glad that the  sun is out and there was a little bit of greenery around where we live. It didn't last long as the heat began to build but I liked it. 

So there we go, there's our spring decor. Hope you like it. Macintosh does, just ignore him pouting in the of the bookcase. I wouldn't let him have a treat, that always makes him grumpy!
H

LATELY...

March marks the beginning of a busy period of our lives with lots of trips planned and visitors arriving. Pinterest is always where I log some of the inspiration for trips. Here's a few inspiring photos that show you where our trip head is currently at!

This place is definitely on the list of spots to visit in the next few months. We are still in the planning stages but every time I do some planning I get so excited at the sheer prospect of going there. I may have pinned several images of the park itself recently and its been somewhere we have been desperate to go since we arrived in California. So excited that we are finally going to be able to do this!

With all the dreaming of places to visit the discussion about camping has come up again. Andrew's not been overly keen to camp here but we have all our gear here and with stunning views (and a few home comforts) it would be amazing!!

This cabin is insane. I have no idea where it is but I love the look of it. It would be an amazing place to stay for a while. Whenever Andrew and I book holidays/trips we are always looking for somewhere nice to stay too. I think the place you stay in really affects the whole trip. I mean we have stayed in some questionable motels over here, but really I love to stay in somewhere lovely because it enhances the whole trip.

I know hair doesn't seemed overly linked but the packing process where you decide what to take and how to ensure there's some style and yet comfort in your outfit is a feat I haven't mastered. Simple hairstyles for when I'm out and about....I've almost nailed it thanks to my decision this year to be braver with my hair. Due to the current length of my hair plaits are a must. 

Lastly the method of transport is another fun thing that we are playing about with at the moment. We are travelling by train during the next month which is quite exciting. I definitely want to add travelling by water, or travelling on water into the mix. Although I have to admit there is some worry in that for myself as I'm not the most confident swimmer. But still travel involves adventure and I guess with adventure there is always some risk...

H

BEN HOWARD

On Tuesday night Andrew and I had the chance to head into LA to see Ben Howard perform. We braved the rush hour traffic to get in. It is pretty much the worst time to be driving through LA, but Andrew managed it well. We got there early enough for me to have another new American experience; Five Guys. This is a burger place that has a deceptively simple menu but you can pretty much just build the burger yourself. It also comes with free helpings of peanuts, in their cases, which enable you to make a mess all over the table!

The event was held at the Shrine Expo Hall which was an incredible looking building right near the University of Southern California. It was a really interesting looking building. The picture below does not do it justice at all. It was shot on an iPhone so it wouldn't be amazing but you can at least see the decorative windows. It was very Arabic in its theme and decor. Probably why Andrew loved it.

So the actual concert was amazing. We haven't been to quite such a chilled out one before but it was fun. Here are just a couple of pictures that show you it. Sorry for the terrible quality.

Sadly we haven't got any more concerts planned for the near future. Guess we better get looking for some...

H

LATELY...

Its the new year so that means there are a few new year's resolutions knocking about and a general desire to start the year well. This month's lately will be focused mainly on that new year's optimism.

I found this on Pinterest and I thought it summed up pretty well a lot of the things I was aiming to focus on this year. I definitely want to ensure that I have more creating this year as I feel the tail end of 2014 was lost in terms of my crafting. 

Another Pinterest find is this yummy Oat Apple Crisp which can be found here. It looks pretty yummy and is definitely on the healthier side, which is always my aim, especially at the beginning of the new year. 

Snow has already been a part of our new year, as we went snow tubing at the weekend. We have been looking forward to taking some hikes with Macintosh in the snow and also the possibility of skiing too. Although I don't usually like the cold there is something stunning about scenery that's covered in a white blanket of snow. 

I got this book for Christmas from Andrew. Three children are sent from the American school system to schools in Finland, South Korea and Poland to see how their education system works and what benefits there are. As a geek when it comes to education I'm really intrigued to read it. I've been eyeing the book up for some time and I'd love to see what they learn. 

I'm determined to learn how to do more simple styles with my hair this year. It's certainly long enough to do plenty of things with but I can never seem to get round to it or learn how to do them. 2015 is the year I will!

And finally, this just made me laugh! So hopefully it'll make you smile too.

Happy new year everyone!

H

SAYONARA 2014

2014 is almost over here in California. It's already ended in Britain and they are all peacefully asleep ready to wake up of the first day of the new year....2015!

Well this past year has been a pretty big one for us as it involved a life changing move across the world, but there's also been some other pretty big happenings. In no particular order, here are our top 10 things from 2014...

1. Being reunited after living apart for 6 months. 
2. Moving to California.
3. Taking our first trip to San Francisco and seeing the Golden Gate bridge. 
4. All the concerts we have been able to go to, including Switchfoot, Fyfe Dangerfield, 30 Seconds to Mars and Linkin Park amongst others.
5. Our nephew Elisha being born!
6. Having Mummy and Daddy K coming out to visit in California for 3 blissful weeks. 
7. Seeing Sir Bradley Wiggins in the Tour of California. 
8. Surprising everyone in England by just appearing on their doorstep!
9. Buying the largest Christmas tree ever. 
10. And possibly the best event of the year......Ben getting engaged on Christmas Eve!! Yay!

We are already looking forward to 2015. It holds our 5th wedding anniversary, special wedding anniversaries for both sets of parents, Elisha's first birthday and a certain husband turning the big 30!! But for now 2014, you've been a pretty great year!

A&H

A FACELIFT

Thought the blog could do with a little freshen up, so whilst you were all asleep in England we had a bit of a play about. We created a new logo that involved placing the beagle on pride rock in front of some fluffy clouds, paired it with a clear cut font that stands out and tweaked a few other little bits to create the new look. Voila! 

Enjoy the holidays!
A&H

OUR GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND

Finally I'm getting around to writing about our trip home. As we have been in the US for 5 months we now have a pretty good idea of things we missed back home in England. So whilst catching up with everyone we also wanted to do a few of the things we missed. What did we miss you ask? Well, here's what we missed...

Fish and chips! My goodness the British really do them best so we made sure that the first full day we were in England involved fish and chips. It was so worth the 5 month wait.

Old towns with a bit of history. American has some older bits but still nothing like the history contained in England. So we made sure that whilst we were home we visited a few lovely old towns. The two you can see here are St Albans and Bath, both places we used to go a lot. I just love the way they look. It probably helps that they are both upper class places!

Roaring fires. Whilst being in the states over the summer period we have barely needed cardigans or jumpers (sweaters for my American friends) so the idea of heating seemed ridiculous. But as the Pinterest pages filled up with autumnal cosy scenes we both began to yearn for a good log fire. So naturally we convinced my not-at-all-cold parents to have a fire in October, something unheard of in the Keble household!

Lincoln. Our first married home. We loved being back there for a day to see the sights and just pretend that it was a normal day. It really did feel like we were going to finish up in town and then swing back to number 52 to sleep. Well it felt like that up until we drove away. We love that city.

And lastly we also just missed familiar things. For example, shopping in Sainsburys and knowing what everything is called, or drinking coffee out of actual mugs in coffee shops instead of takeaway cups. So here's a few final pictures of familiar things that made the trip home feel like home.

Overall we loved the trip and can't wait for the next one. Hopefully it'll be longer and we'll get to see more people. 

H